Salutem Judas
by Silver Katsuyami
Summary: She walks slowly up to Monsignor Thatcher, nothing but the thought of his sins on her mind. Every sin, every word he spoke from his hypocritical mouth made her blood burn in anger. The sleek dress she is adorned in hugs her curves. Nothing could save him.
1. Don't Stop Fighting

**Salutem Judas. **

Well decided to take Forsaken down because I didn't like how it was turning out. Seemed to generic. Now, the title means The Salvation of Judas. Don't jump to conclusions, it's a surprise :3

Summary: **She walks slowly, so slowly, up to Monsignor Thatcher, nothing but the thought of his sins on her mind. Every sin, every word he spoke from his hypocritical mouth made her blood burn in anger. The sleek dress she is adorned in hugs her curves. He smiles a crooked smile, eyes wrinkling and she places a kiss on his lips, soft, sweet and she smirks as she pulls back and saunters away. The only thing on his mind is how he would atone for his sins he planned to commit with such a lovely flower.**

Chapter 1:

Always Fight Big baby blue eyes look up at a man with the same colored eyes, both pairs sad and forlorn.

"But daddy, you can't go! I don't want to go with the men! Daddy, why can't you stay?" he smiles sadly down at his little girl, all big blue eyes and long honey colored hair. The sun is bright and hot, breads of sweat running down both of their backs.

"I do have to go, and so do you love. These men, they are dear friends of mine, they will protect you. Stay with Monsignor Babel, he'll take care of you. I promise I'll find you later darling." He kisses her forehead as tears gather in her eyes.

"but daddy! I don't want you to go!" tears fall from her beautiful eyes like a river flowing quickly through a dam. Her voice cracks and the sound pulls at the man's gentle heart.

"Little darling I have to go fight the monsters. To make the world safe for you so you can grow me that garden you keep talkin about." He smiles through thick sadness, his little girl's tears breaking his heart. She sniffs and pouts and he is forced to gather her up, little brown dress with black shoes and all, into his arms and hug her tightly, not wanting to let go. His heart shatters at the very thought of leaving her with these men. Though he has no choice. The church wants him, and he can't deny them and save his daughter.

"Salus Mae, when your mother died I was heartbroken and you fixed my heart. Now I have to go fight the scary monsters so we can be happy again. A little unhappiness is worth it in the end, right?" his voice is thick and rich. The accent of the far off sector ten runs deep in his veins.

"Daddy, I love you." She sniffs as he slowly puts her down. Her hair blows in the wind, her dirty face smudged with the flying dust.

"I love you too baby girl. Just remember, always fight for what you believe in. If I find Raul, I promise I'll send him to get you, alright?" and with that he gets into the truck that takes him away from her. The thought of her big brother coming to fetch her raised her heart a little, but before she knows it she's sobbing, and gathered into the arms of a kindly looking man with barely graying hair. Wide blue eyes stare out at the world and she knows then that she would never see her daddy again.

"Salus Mae. Who named you that?" the man's voice is light and questioning. She is surprised he wouldn't know, she thought all churchmen knew Latin.

"My daddy. He always said I was his Salvation after mommy died. Mommy died when I was six." She mumbles quietly through tears.

"What's your real name?" he asks as they climb into a covered car. She wipes her tears, not watching her daddy go. Her bright blue eyes and honey color hair are dirty, and her face is covered in tears mixed with dirt.

"Marigold."

**Salus Mae- My Salvation. Her father is what could be called Scottish. Yes, I'm aware I do so love men from that area of the world. :3**

**R+R  
**


	2. Wishful Thinking

**Salutem Judas **

_I don't own Priest._

Chapter 2: Wishful Thinking

8 Years Later.

The soft tap, tap, tap of keys on a keyboard echo through the dark room. In the middle of the room, across from the window is a large bed with deep purple satin sheets. This is all accept for the desk at which a female form sits staring, concentrating on the bright screen. Around the room, on every wall are crosses, three are glowing a pale white, soft in the night. Bright blue eyes scan as she types, never stopping, never making a mistake. A soft smile plays on her rose colored lips. The time in the corner of the screen, 9:30am makes her type faster, barely registering the letters coming up on the screen.

_She laughs, a light lilt, nothing more than beautiful to those around her. Her bright green eyes, so odd in the bright sunlight of the deep jungles shine brightly up at the man in front of her. He pushes her long raven locks, soft to the touch and sweet to the smell, back over her shoulder, his hand resting softly on the curve of her neck. A shot of fire spurs from his hand, socking her to the core, running farther down to places she had never felt anything before. _

A sharp knock spurs her from her thoughts, making her jump and quickly save before opening the file with her dance notes on it. She folds the computer back like a book, and leans back, writing with a special pen on the screen, random words.

"Marigold, there you are" she expects Babel but it isn't him. It's Monsignor Aberto. She's hardly ready for visitors, Babel lets her wear a long thick robe of blue in the morning, and lets her long honey hair tumble down until it was time for her to go to her dance class, then it gets put up.

"Monsignor, pardon me, I wasn't expecting visitors this morning." She stands and bows her head slightly, uneasiness growing as he stares at her. She feels naked under his gaze and it makes her want to hurl. She unconsciously pulls the robe tighter, the fabric soft on her bare skin, and she steps back a little, silk pajama bottoms grazing the floor.

"My dear, I am sorry. Babel said you were ready for your performance, and I wanted to wish you good luck." He steps in, shutting and locking the door behind him. Her uneasiness grows and she's on edge. Fear runs through her body, rampant. Where was Babel and why would he allow such a thing. The man in front of her is ugly, wrinkled and fat, with large arms and a hair covered face. At least twice her age of 18.

"Monsignor, if you would allow, I will go change and we can be on our way." Her voice cracks and he smirks.

"My dear, I believe what you have on will do fine. Why don't you dance for me my beautiful flower?" his voice is haughty and all Marigold wishes she could do is punch him, but she doesn't have the strength, nor any training to do so. She catches the smell of wine and a cologne he liked, she had found it was called the Blood of Christ on the black market, way back when she had first met him. She misses a swift movement to the pocket of his robes, and before she knows it her body is shocked, pain going from the point at her neck to her toes to her head. She falls to the ground, and through her half lidded eyes she watches him peel his jacket off, and before she passes out she manages to puke on his nice shiny shoes.

Her eyes slowly peel open, pain holds her body in its tight fist, her head pounds. She had slept through it all, but she couldn't remember for the life of her what had happened. Through her haze filled eyes she spots seven faces she doesn't know, and one she does. For some reason her heart tugs and tears slide from her face. Babel stands over her with a worried expression, his brown eyes wide, looking into her own baby blues.

"Oh Marigold, who did this to you?" his voice is filled with worry. Over the years he had proven a very good father, a sweet man and always caring. He let her get away with more than the church would let anyone else.

"Babel….I….don't know." She sits up slowly and looks into the far to serious faces of the people around her, the newest batch of Priests, all looking a few years older than her, the same age Raul would be. There are four women and three men. Babel hands her a chalice to take a sip of water from. The smell makes her drop the cup, eyes wide.

"That….that smell, wine and something else…" she couldn't recall what the other smell was. Babel picks up the dropped chalice as she tried to ignore the hard eyes of the priests. None let their emotions show, but one, with hazel eyes watches her keenly, with a look in his eyes. He was angry, and he let a bit of it show. It brought her comfort that even though they are Priests, they can still feel. She shifts lightly and realizes she's wearing her light blue silk pajamas.

"You can't remember who did this to you?" the woman asked softly. Marigold slowly shakes her honey colored hair, and when she didn't feel the soft tresses brush her shoulders she froze, with wide eyes. The Priests tensed, and Babel went to put a hand on her shoulder, but before he could she managed, with speed that can easily compare to a Priest's, to throw herself off the bed and around the bodies surrounding it and bolt into the bathroom. She turns to the mirror above the sink and her heart drops, her eyes wide. Her hair had been cut, choppily, to around her neck. Her eyes filled with tears and she let out a wail that broke the heart of her caregiver. He was there in an instant, holding the sobbing girl. The woman walked in, her own long black hair pulled into a pony tail.

"It's only hair, something far more precious has been taken from you, and you cry for your hair." Her voice is sharp, questioning, accusing. Marigold's baby blue eyes look up at this woman, and she glares.

"What I cry over is no business of yours. You may know loss, but you've come to fight for the church. I was taken from my father because he was stolen by the church, my brother has been missing for five years. I had promised to never cut my hair again until I knew his fate. This promise to myself is, to me, like taking your vows is to you. So don't patronize me about what I can cry for." Marigold had never lashed out on someone like that before and she took herself aback, but she would not apologize for it. Then something clicked.

"Wait…..something else was taken? What?" Babel and the woman avoid her gaze and as she sat on the cold tile floor, the pain in her body made itself known to her. The worst pain was between her thighs and her behind. Her heart stops then, and all she can do is was decided that, since they are not yet fully trained, the new batch of Priests would take turns at night guarding the Monsignor's adopted daughter. She sits at her computer most of the days in the next two weeks, writing different stories. On the 7th day, she began to write of her home.

_Mama was from sector 9, and daddy was from sector 10. They wanted to move farther away from Sector 12, so we moved to Sector 3. Unknown to them then, Sector 3 was at the end of Bethlehem's district and at the beginning of Abez's district. Each major city holds 2 districts under its control, which usually has around 10 to 15 small towns scattered about the wastelands around it, so here is what the circle of power looks like._

_Sector 1: Bethlehem_

_Sector 2: Bethlehem__Sector _

_3: Abez__Sector _

_4: Abez__Sector _

_5: Notre dame_

_Sector 6: Notre dame _

_Sector7: Kingdom of Judah_

_Sector 8: Kingdom of Judah_

_Sector 9: Jokdeam_

_Sector 10: Jokdeam_

_Sector 11: Cathedral City_

_Sector 12: Cathedral City_

_My father came from a town in Jokdeam, Sector 10, called Damascus. It is here where I wish to be, to grow up like daddy and Raul. Mama and Daddy moved from Damascus when I was born, and Raul stayed with Grandma and Grandpa. After it was attacked by Vampires my daddy left to see what happened. He came back without Raul, and told mama he had been taken by the church, at only 10 years old. By then I was 4. So we lived our peaceful little existence, until mama got sick. She was sick for a week, and then she passed into God's hands. Daddy and I like to believe she went to heaven, and is always watching, but now I wonder. If she was watching, if she was in Heaven, why would she let something like this happen? Why would she let me get raped? Why would god _

"Dangerous questions for a monsignor's daughter to be asking." A rough voice mutters behind Marigold. She jumps and nearly falls from her chair, looking wide eyed up at the Priest with Hazel eyes. This had become a common occurrence in the last two weeks, he was the only one that would sneak up on her.

"When did you come in? Why didn't you knock?" she asks, her heart pounding in her chest like a frightened rabbit's, fast and unsteady. He shakes his head.

"I did, five times. When there wasn't an answer I began to worry." She nods slowly. This one was the only one to ever talk to her like she was a human; the others either didn't speak to her or talked to her like she was a puppy. She had wanted to know their names, so very much, but she knew that with their vows they weren't allowed to disclose that information.

"I thought Babel said you were all leaving today to go to the Hive at Sola Mira." She sits back down in her chair, long silk black pants and a silk tank top soft against her skin and keeping her cool. Her hair barely touches her shoulders. She had taken another vow, to not cut her hair until she found the man who did this to her, violated her first vow. He nods, coming to her side. Within the 7 days, she had come to enjoy his company. He wasn't like the others, wasn't mean, he talked to her, and sometimes they laughed. She had grown fond of his company and is sad to see him leave. She holds no illusion of them ever being more then acquaintances, but since the incident the only contact she had was with the Priests and Babel. Babel even forbid her from dancing for three weeks, she was dying to do something.

"We leave tonight; you will need to remember to lock your door." A light blush falls across her cheeks, locking her door was something she had always been terrible about. His voice isn't mean, isn't snide, it's almost brotherly. A sharp pain runs through her chest and her eyes cloud with sadness. She had yet to hear anything about Raul and her father. "Now, why is someone so close to the Church writing something that could get her killed, or worse, committed?" He asks, sincerely curious. If he had been any of the others she would have blown him off, but after a moment she lets out a long sigh.

"Why would a benevolent god allow one of his children to be raped, where I do nothing sinful being stuck in this place all day, every day. I say my prayers, I confess the little things that may anger him, I'm almost a nun. Father, I have doubts about this life, about God, Heaven, and Hell. I'm beginning to think that saying a couple prayers for your sins and being atoned is wrong." She shakes her head. She had strayed from calling him Father, he had said right away she didn't have to, but now it felt right to do so.

"Stay strong, and you will be your own salvation." There is something in his voice that brings her hope. With those words, he leaves. No goodbye, no sweet words. She sighs and locks the door behind him, and turns leaning against the metal frame. She believes she will never forget him, his face, his eyes, his kindness, his voice, but even as she wonders she can tell it's just wishful thinking.

**What ya think about chapter 2? I kinda like it so far. Do time skips annoy you? Let me know!**


	3. Sinner

**Salutem Judas. **

I don't own Priest.

**Chapter 3: Sinner**

Two months later, baby blue eyes are once again filled with tears, and slender fingers wipe the salty liquid away, but the action proves futile. Marigold is clad in a long slim fitting black dress of the finest silk the Church had to offer. Her hair is now down between her shoulders with half pulled over her left shoulder in honey colored curls. An old hand reaches out to her, and wipes her tears away.

"But Babel, you can't leave me with him. He frightens me." They stand in her room, a mere two hours after her recital. Her dress sways around her knees as she walks to her desk, looking down at her computer. Babel is meant to travel to Jericho for the week upcoming, and he wishes for her to stay with his dear friend Christopher. She had met him once, when she met Alberto, and was confused over the whole situation.

"I must. All Monsignors must go to Jericho, you know this it happens every year." All she can do is shake her head.

"Then why can't I go?" Babel shakes his head behind her and brings a gentle hand to her shoulder.

"Please be ready by morning." He kisses her head and leaves her room. She growls, and wants nothing more than to punch something. She wipes angry tears away and looks at the full length mirror. Her eyes glare at herself and she sighs. In years past he had let her stay in the mansion with the servants, It seems odd that he wouldn't let her stay now.

She pulls off the silk gown and tosses it aside. Under she wears a black bra and panties with white lace around the edges. She walks to her dresser and digs to the back of the drawers and pulls out a plain pair of baggy black pants and a black baggy shirt. In another drawer she pulls out a big baggy grey hoodie. She had one of the maids, Clara, give her these when the Priests left. She had been able to slip away and watch them leave, none looking back at the city.

She wonders as she changes if he had known how much those words meant to her, how much they shook her. They reminded her so much of the last words her father said to her.

"Salus Mae" she mutters softly, her voice light and full of emotions. She looks back into the mirror, she looks like an everyday citizen, accept for her clean hair. "I'll be my own Salvation." She decides to quickly braid her hair back. It's messy, strands falling everywhere and she decides that it's perfect. The odd feeling of rough clothes on her skin makes her heart pound with the knowledge of the trouble she could get into. Babel liked to keep her locked up and safe from the sinners around her.

She decides to leave her stuff there, she would be back. She walks to the hallway, quietly closing her door, and quickly sneaks into the servant's hall, a thin plain spiral staircase with doors at every floor. Her room was on the 3rd. She sneaks unseen from the way to the kitchen and out the back door into the smug filled city.

The feel of the cold night air on her face amazes her, and any regrets she had were quickly blown away with the dirty city air.

She walks for an hour, around and around. She had never really explored the city, in all the time she had been there. She walks, head down, eyes always looking. Blue eyes were everywhere, brown hair too. Maybe she didn't need the hoodie. With this thought she sighs at her plainness. She had always thought she would grow up to be something special, she had been wrong.

It had taken her a month to get over the rape; she was jumpy, always on edge. She began to relax, and now she's built up enough courage to take a little bit of freedom she thinks is owed to her. She bumps heavily into a body, and she falls to the ground.

"I'm so sorry." She apologizes as she looks up into the face of Monsignor Alberto. He smirks down at her, and her blood runs cold, and pain wracks her body as the smell of his cologne assaults her senses. Her mind plays the memories she didn't know she had, the pain, the fear, the screams.

"You…..it was you!" her pupils dilate with anger she had never felt before. He smirks at her, and suddenly she's grabbed from behind and dragged backwards.

"Let me go! Help me! Anyone!" her voice falls on deaf ears, their heads bowed as another attack happens, another monsignor punishing a sinner. Tears well up in her eyes, it was going to happen again. She's thrown into a building, and he follows her, locking the large doors behind him. The pews around show it's an old church, a museum. She stumbles, running away from the man walking slowly behind her. Her heart pounds heavy in her chest and her breathing is labored as she tries to find an escape, anywhere, but this holy place would not save her.

She hopes for an escape, prays for one, but god doesn't answer her. She's pinned against a wall with a knife to her neck. "This time, you'll remember, everything."

The most excruciating part of his torture, his violation of her was when he ripped her shirt off and carved, Sinner, down her left side with the knife when he was done with her, tossing aside her bra to carve from right below her underarm to the top of her hip.

"Now, you'll die nothing more than a used, beaten sinner. You're nothing more than a whore." With that he pulls out a box of matches, and throws three into the pews. The one wooden building in the city began to burn, with Marigold on the ground, bleeding and battered. As the flames grow bigger, the smoke begins to surround her. Coughs wrack her pain filled body, and her baby blue eyes stare, devoid of anything up at the ceiling.

'Why god? What did I do? What horrible sin did I commit to deserve to die like this?' she thinks bitterly.

Out of nowhere two voices echo through the haze, two different voices. "Salus Mae, always fight for what you believe in." her father smiles down at her. "You'll be your own salvation." It was him, the Priest. They both look down at her, and she realizes they are right.

"Salutem. That's my name. You named me that for a reason daddy, now I'll live up to it." Her voice cracks and her eyes water, but she forces herself through the pain to roll over and pull on the slightly ripped hoodie. It falls to her thighs, covering her lithe body. She glares as she moves through the flames, avoiding the heat while leaning on the pews for support. Every movement makes her side split more, the letters bleeding heavily into the fabric. The stench of burning wood invades her senses and she hacks her way to the door, unable to stop coughing.

She reaches the door, and falls out into the street, that is surprisingly soft. Strong arms lift her up, and she feels heavy cloth fall around her legs.

"Salutem, it can't be." the voice is familiar, comforting, filled with doubt.

**Oooooooh, who caught her? Now I have no real outline for this, I know where she started; I know where I want to get her. It's getting her there that's the fun part. **


	4. Dear Prudence

**Salutem Judas**  
**Sorry its been so long, my last computer crashed, got a new one, named her Analyes, aka Ana. Got a new car, named him Sektor. Lifes lookin up. Enjoy.**

Chapter 4: Dear Prudence

Soft singing fills her senses, a woman singing soft and low "Dear Prudence, wont you come out to play. Dear Prudence, greet brand new day. The sun is up the sky is blue, it's beautiful and so are you, Dear Prudence, wont you come out to play?" she groans slightly, her senses coming back to her. Her head pounds and her side burns when she moves.

"Dear prudence, open up your eyes. Dear prudence see the sunny Skies. The wind is low the birds will sing, you are part of everything. Dear Prudence, wont you open up your eyes?" this was a soft male voice, low tenor in pitch and utterly familiar to her. Her eyes clench slightly as the two voices continue singing.

"Look around, Look around, Look around, Look around, Look around. Dear Prudence, greet the brand new day. The sun is up, the sky is blue, it's beautiful and so are you, Dear Prudence, wont you come out to play?" they end softly and both voices sigh.

"Priest, it has been nigh on two months, I don't think she'll wake up." the female voice said softly, almost hopefully.  
"Stop calling me that! I haven't fought for the church in several years, and I refuse to go back. Not after seeing what that bastard did to her...leave me Jesse." his voice strikes her heart, she knows it, like a far off whisper pulling at her heart.  
"But Raul, we must continue before they find us, she's holding you back, she's holding us back." the females voice flared and Marigold furrows her eyebrows at the tone, it sends needles through her skull.

"Jesse she's my fucking sister! Mind your tongue or I'll cut it out of your head!" his voice was low, deep, dangerous. It hit her. Raul. Her brother. She can feel tears gather at the corners of her eyes as she slowly opens them. She's in a tent, lit by candles and there is one shadow in the place with her.

"R" she tries to speak but her voice wont work, so she slowly sits up to look her brother in the face for the first time since she was a child.  
The candles cast a shadow across his eyes and he looks so much older, whithered and tired. He looks up and his own baby blue eyes shine with unshed tears. "Oh my god" he leaps from his chair and rushes to her, an arm going behind her back to support her and hugs her lightly. She wraps her arms around his shoulders and hugs him tightly, crying into his shoulder.

"Shhhh it's alright. Everything is okay." he whispers to her and she believes it.

"Raul, how? How did you know?" she pulls back and blue eyes meet blue eyes and he smiles, putting a hand against her cheek.

"I herd you screaming. I was visiting the city to see a Monsignor Babel. Father had told me his name before he went off to sector 1 to man the borders. That was almost a year ago." her heart skips at mentions of her father.  
"Daddy's alright?" her eyes shine and her brother smiles and nods.

"Of course. We've tried sending you letters, by the look on your face I'm guessing you never recieved any." she shakes her head, unable to make anything from this new feeling. Her heart soars, making her pain dull to nothing.

"Can we go see him? Please?" at this her brother's face drops.

"Maybe. We need to get you up and moving first. Marigold-" she glares at him.

"No. My name is Salutem. Salus Mae." her voice is hard and dark. They had called her Marigold. She wanted nothing more to do with the Church. She would wash herself of everything it was.

"Salvation. Yes father told me about your pet name. Alright then, Salutem. You must realize, I no longer fight for the church. Neither does father. We are part of rebel factions, trying to bring down the cities, hopefully it will brighten the skies a little." she was taken aback by his words, amazed he would just straight out tell her something so big.

"You will always be in danger now my sister, you must learn to fight, both priests and vampires. Don't look at me like that, you have the gift just as I do. The Church didn't see it, but you've got it. The fact that your still breathing proves there is hope here. I'll train you personally, and you start tomorrow. Now you get cleaned up and eat. I'll see you in the morning my darling sister." he kisses her forehead and she smiles sadly, taking it all in.

Her night was long, she was helped into a wash basin of cold water, where she learned she had lost a dangerous amount of weight during her two months of sleep. Her stomach was nothing but ribs and her breasts weren't as full as they had been. She gently feels where the cuts had healed into scars, but she refused to look at them.

She ate alone in her tent that night and went right to bed. The morning would bring training, much harder then her dance lessons, and Raul needed her to be ready for it.

_**How do you like it so far? Now it's up for a vote, should I do another time skip or keep going on with her training? it's up to you, and I wont update until I get at least two answers ;) **_


	5. Forgive me Father For I Wish To Sin

**Well for the sake of getting rid of filler chapters, the flashbacks will be more then few and far between, but I'm not telling you when :3 Imagine this nameless town looking like the towns from Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time.**

**Chapter 5: Forgive me Father for I Wish to Sin**

_2 years later, Salutem is now 20. Raul is now 26._

Loud music plays in the middle of a small town, a whore house made of stone and sticks filled to almost bursting is awake and alive, within its walls men harass women and chaos reigns as the harlots preform in long and short dresses. One woman sits cross legged at a table, sipping at a glass of wine with ruby red lips.

Baby blue eyes glance around the crowd idly as she plays with a strand of long honey colored hair, pulling and twisting it through slender fingers tipped with a hauntingly green paint that held an odd smell. She's clad in a long low cut and backless emerald green dress of soft fabric that clings to her now full breasts and sits softly around the curve of her hips with a long slit up to her mid-thigh. Her long hair falls over her shoulders and down to the middle of her back. She sighs and breathes in the smell of long forgotten desert flowers, found only in certain rare patches of earth. Her hair is subtly curled, framing her face and giving her a look of innocence about her.

Her eyes scan the crowd and land on the face of an elderly man. Clean shaven with a lecherous smile on those disgusting lips, brown eyes shimmer with alcohol as he looks around at all of the dancing girls, grabbing the youngest around him and pulling her onto his lap. She had to be only sixteen, maybe younger. Salutem swallows the vomit that threatens to leap up her throat and takes another sip of her wine. She looks around to find Raul, but as promised she was on her own.

She had done this 20 times, and this was the first time Raul trusted her on her own. She had been a natural at the art of deceit and trickery. Once she had caught on, it had stuck and she used it well. The night wears on and he keeps the young blonde within easy reach. She had watched him move his hands all over the girl's body and had to keep herself from vomiting or throwing the knife hiding against her thigh right through his skull. Her eyes light up when a woman with bright violet eyes walks out wearing black short shorts and a tube top, her hair in two little pig tails. She brings the man his drink and he gives her a pat on the ass.

Jessie giggles and passes Salutem, giving her a nod. Salutem's red painted lips turn into a smile and her eyes darken as she stands and walks slowly up to Monsignor Thatcher, nothing but the thought of his sins on her mind, the sins she knew herself, witnessed and read reports on. Every sin, every word he spoke from his hypocritical mouth made her blood burn in anger. He talks to the girl like she's a common whore, when in reality the girl, Mary, was a virgin and just serving drinks. She was a trap and he knew not a thing. Nothing could save him. He looks up at the woman in front of him and his smile grows as his eyes rake her body.

She signals Mary to leave and she sits in his lap, resisting the urge to yet again vomit as she lightly bites his ear and whispers "Forgive me father, for I wish to sin." their ideas of sin are very very different but he doesn't know that. He smiles and slaps her ass, gripping it hard.

"Well my child, let us go to my room and you can tell me all about It." his smile is huge, he finally found a whore to play with. He stands and takes her hand, pulling her upstairs to his own private room. When the door is shut he turns to her, and she plays along a little more. His hands rest on her hips and she giggles and twirls around him, dancing slowly. He grins and laughs.

"What a beautiful little minx you are, what is your name child?" Thatcher asks as he turns to undress. She slips a long curved knife from under her dress, a hidden hole in the side allowing easy access to her knife holster around her thigh.

"They call me Judas." her voice is soft and sultry as she moves her hand back behind her back as he turns. She presses herself against him, eyes locked with his as she waits for the question.

"Why do they call you that my love?" his fingers caress her cheeks "such an unfitting name for a woman so beautiful." her smile changes from one of softness, innocence and want to a much darker one. One of anger, hate and loathing.

"Forgive me father, for I wish to sin. You are unworthy of a prayer, and unworthy to give me the forgiveness I seek." she slits his throat before he can scream, and before she leaves, uses her pointer finger to lightly write Sinner on his forehead, pressing down ever so slightly with her nail. As she turns the skin slowly burns, some of her green nail polish had rubbed off onto his face, burning her message into his forehead.

She climbs out the window to find a black bag sitting there. She quickly changes into a pair of loose fitting black pants and a black long sleeved hooded shirt that stops just below her breasts, showing off her scars on her left side. She pulls her hair up into a high pony tail and shoves the heels and dress into the bag, climbing barefoot down into the sand. She stops when she hears a high pitched screech, a very inhuman one.

"Shit." she cursed and began to run for safety, her heart pounding in her chest. She leaps over obstacles just like she was taught and moves fluidly through the town. A slight buzzing in her ear makes her stop.

"Judas, it was a fucking trap! The church is here, they have priests and machines….and…..and vampires! Judas fucking run!" Raul screams at her through the earpiece. She stops on a building. Vampires…she had only fought one once for training with the clawed whip and guns. But the sounds echoing through the town, there is more than one. Many more.


	6. Death of an Angel

**Ehhhhh I'll probably be re-editing this later, but here it is. Enjoy :3 I love hearing from you guys, and I don't think Black Hat is in this chapter . sorry…P.S. again I'm pulling from Sands of Time with the whip, and from Avatar with the giant robots, because frankly I can't find a way to describe either thing in a way that does either justice. I don't own Priest or Sands of time or Avatar. **

**Chapter 6: Death of an Angel **

_Several Months Ago:_

"_Come on Salutem, keep focused or its going to kill you." Raul chides from behind the cage. She's wearing black shorts and her crop top, showing off scars of all types, but the biggest was the one carved into her side. At first she had__ hidden it from the world, and then as her anger grew so did her resolve, so she shows the word proudly for all to see. Around her curved hips sits two crude looking whips with several tips coming from the main cord, and on the end of those tips are sharp silver devices that look like claws. _

_She waits for the creature to move, and she moves with it, they seem to dance around each other. The vampire is fast, but so is she. She skillfully dodges it as it flies at her chest by bending backwards and pushing herself up onto her hands, and pushing her body after the creature, driving the knives in both her boots into the creatures back, making it scream horribly. This was her final test, to see if she was ready to actually help the rebels, she was bound and determined to prove herself to her brother and his bitch. She smirked at her thoughts; two years ago she would have never thought such things. _

_The vampire hits the ground hard, and blood now covers Salutem's boots and legs. She goes to spin off, to latch her boots from the creature's body when it wraps a giant clawed arm around her legs. Her heart races and her body acts without her telling it to, she grabs one of the whips and swings it to the top of the cage, the claws catching around the bars, and she uses her strength to pull herself up and away. When the vampire finally released her, gravity took over and she swung over to one of the walls, where she grabbed the bars and waited. When the creature launched at her again, she sent the other whip flying at the creature, trapping it around its midsection, making the claws dig into its flesh, and she yanked on the whip, hard, splitting the creature in two. _

She snaps out of her thoughts, so far she had managed to avoid all signs of vampire, but Raul also hadn't said a word to her. She pauses, and digs into the bag, pulling out her two whips and putting them on her hips, just in case. She presses the device into her ear.

"Raul where are you? Where is everyone else?" she asks quietly, and it only takes a few moments before he answers.

"The church has rounded us up in the town square, the vampires, they're staying away from the machines, and us. They're killing townspeople. Judas, go get help." His voice is tired, but still filled with authority. She snorts "Whatever you say brother" she sets off again, carefully, quietly, slowly. She manages to avoid five large vampires by hiding in the shadows, though they seemed pre-occupied anyway. When she reached a building overlooking the square she couldn't believe what she saw. Above their heads is a giant cross, going between four buildings, the lights are below these beams making the light shine brightly on the people in the center.

Giant robotic like humans stand in a circle around the rebels, and all around those robots are priests and vampires fighting each other. She spots a lone figure off to the side, away from the machines and with three vampires sitting around him. He's dressed in a long black trench coat, with a hat covering his face. The church had put bright spotlights on buildings, that the vampires dared not step directly into, keeping her brother and the others well illuminated. She pulls her hood over her head, and it covers her face.

"Raul how do I help?" she asks him quietly. She watches as he warily looks around, he knows she's there somewhere.

"God damn it Judas. We don't stand a chance against vampires and machines. Just leave, go be safe." He glares around him, and his eyes pass over her, and she smirks.

"Oh shut up. How do we fix this brother?" she presses, leaning back against one of the light posts.

"We need to take out those suits, there are people inside, we need a distraction so we can get our weapons back, but whatever you do stay in the light. It's artificial sunlight, it burns the vampires." Her eyes widen at the very idea, how had the church come up with such technology. She sits under the light, safe from vampires, and her shadow only reaches to just behind the mechanical backs. They don't notice her.

She wonders what she can do before someone steps into the circle of light, and she realizes it's the man with the black hat. He walks slowly to her brother, his face shadowed while her brothers is illuminated by the light, the scar on his face, nothing more than a mockery of their existence. Her brother looks up at him, they speak, all the while voices yell at them, guns are raised.

"Judas…..take out the lights…..it's our only chance, this man….he says he has a way, salvation for us. Please be Salus Mae. Trust me." His voice is desperate, and almost defeated. She growls and hopes to the moons that he knows what hes doing. She stands and her shadow is cast across the light, before she knocks the light down. It crashes below, making the vampires below scream at her. She freezes at the feeling of something behind her. She turns slowly to find a large vampire sitting there, watching her with no eyes.

She moves slowly, but the vampire stays still. "Judas, hurry up! He says your safe, says the vampires wont hurt you, so go!" her brother yells in her ear and she grimaces. "I got it I got it, stop yelling Raul!" her voice causes the vampire to step closer. She expected it to be a foul smelling beast, but it smells like dirt and blood. It's an almost familiar smell. It stands on its hind legs, easily towering over her and she steps back. "I've got a job to do. Wait to kill me until later." She pulls one of her whips off her hip and jumps off the building, linking that whip around a metal beam going across the square, and she uses the other one to link around another light, and uses the momentum from her jump to pull that one down. She then alternates and goes to another beam, taking out another light. By now the priests have realized whats going on, but now the vampires have a wider range with two less lights. They protect her, one even dies as a giant boomerang flies at her, it jumps in front and is split in two, its blood covering her arms and face. She continues on, making quick work of the five lights. She hangs in the air momentarily, watching the scene play out. The vampires surge forward and the machines easily crumble, the priests have their hands full and her brother and her people are safe with the man in the black hat.

Pain wracks her body as something clamps down on her waist and pulls her from the whip, she lets out an ear piercing scream, and all eyes are on her. One of the suits had gotten her, and was trying to crush her in its giant claws. Pain explodes behind her eyes as she attempts to hang on, to fight. She's brought to the level where she can see the person inside, and she glares into cold grey eyes. This man is nothing more than a pawn.

"Alberto will be interested to know you didn't die in that fire. He thought the fire was so hot it burned your bones. How pleased he will be when I bring your cold bleeding body to him." The man lets out a bark of a laugh, ugly and terrible. Suddenly out of nowhere the machine goes flying, with her still in the claws. They land hard and she's tossed away, with a few audible cracks and a strong burning sensation on her right side. The sky is dark, and her breathing is heavy. She wonders where Raul was, if he was safe. She hears them, the vampires. They're around her, and out of nowhere one is on top of her, she screams as its claws dig into her sides, and she knows she will die. She wonders if anyone would care, who would cry, she wonders if he has died already. As darkness takes over her senses, she's lulled to sleep by the last conversation they had, before he left for Sola Mira.


	7. Bite Me

**Still not happy about the last chapter...not sure what to do with it. ANYWAY thank you to those who review, add me or my story as a fav, follow and to those who just read :) I know you****'****re there and it makes me happy. Obvously this takes place in the giant time gap before the attack on Jericho.**

_Chapter 7: Bite Me_

She groans, pain shoots up her sides and the world comes back to her. Screaming, yelling, screeching. She opens her eyes slowly, the sky is still dark and the vampires aren't on her, though as she moves and brings her hand to her face and smells the thick liquid there she realizes it's not just hers. The vampire blood smells of death, decay. Her world is hazy, a pair of boots walks up to her on her left side.

"Judas! Raul is hurt you have to get up!" it's Jessie, her voice defeated and hoarse. At the new information given to her she slowly sits up, her world spinning but she fights it. Soon she's standing, the edge of her vision nothing but a blur.

"Where is he?" her voice is soft, tired, pain filled.

"I have him in a truck, more priests are on their way. We need to go. NOW!" a hand clamps around her wrist and pulls her forward, nearly making her trip.

"Back to base?" she asks as she runs, slightly stumbling behind Jessie.

"No, Marco and the others are here too, the church found the base. You have to drive to back up." Her eyes widen. Their back up base is all the way in Sector 10, where daddy and Raul grew up. The town of Damascus is small, and filled to the brim with rebels. They're in Sector 8 now; it'll take two days at least to make it to Damascus.

"How will we make it if more Priests are on the way? They'll kill us first." Her vision is clearing and as they near the truck her brother must have been in, she sees the man with the black hat.

"This man, God of Vampires, says we will be protected." Jessie is tired and quickly jumps into the back seat of the truck. Judas sees her brother's head and she's worried. She's snapped out of her mind by someone clearing their throat. She looks up at the shadowed face of the man.

"Are we truly protected?" she asks, her voice curious. He nods slightly and that's good enough for her. "If the cause is screwed over because we get caught because of you, you'll regret it." A fire burns in her eyes and the man chuckles.

"I'm much more powerful then you give me credit for little girl." His voice is rough and almost seems familiar to her, but she doesn't care why. She climbs into the truck and turns the ignition and the man climbs into the seat next to her.

"Yeah? I'd find a way to kick your ass through all 12 sectors." She hits the gas and they're on their way.

"I'd love to see you try, you're nothing more than a child, how could someone so weak stand up to the god of vampires?" his voice has a teasing hint to it, and it makes her fire burn brighter.

"Bite me asshole." And she leaves it at that as they speed from the now forsaken town, heading to the place her father and brother called home all those years ago. Her heart quickens as she thinks of seeing her father. She hears the screeches of vampires through the night, hears the yelling of men in pain. Her fears of being caught slowly ebb away, the screeching bringing her a strange sort of comfort.

She travels by the light of the moon with five other trucks full of people, until they hit a crossroad; this is where they would split up. She goes right, while the other choose their own paths, hers is quickest. She turns headlights on as the moon slides behind a cloud and sits back, glancing over her shoulder at her sleeping brother. Darkness covers his face and upper body, she assumes he was just knocked out.

The ride through the night is quiet. It's not until well into the afternoon of the next day that the pain in her body slowly becomes more and more noticeable as she slowly begins to feel the weight of her eyes. A yawn makes the man look to her from under the brim of his hat.

"It's been well over ten hours that you've been driving. You must be exhausted." She rubs her eyes as he says that and nods slightly.

"Yeah but I'm the only one that can make this drive." Her voice is a low whisper, Jessie and Raul are fast asleep in the back, both covered by blankets Jessie had packed away.

"You're going to get us all killed if you fall asleep behind that wheel. It's a little over a day left to make it there; I'd rather make it there alive. Pull over." His voice still hits a nerve, it's so familiar. She groans as she realizes he's right and so she does stop the truck. She slowly climbs out the door and stretches her aching body. Pain pulsates from every corner of her being and she groans.

"You're a sinner?" she jumps at his voice and turns, and it takes her a minute to realize what he's talking about.

"According to Monsignor Alberto I am." She says bitterly and spits as she says his name. The man moves as she walks around the truck to the other side, jumping up into the seat and regretting it as soon as she did.

"Take it easy, you took more damage than I've ever seen a normal person take." His tone is almost scolding. She snorts and shakes her head as she leans against the door, her head rests on the window.

"Bite me."

"Don't tempt me" there is something dark and sinister about those three words that sends a shiver shooting up her spine. This man, this God of Vampires, is something new altogether. New and dangerous.

**Short I know, but I really have no idea what I'm doing anymore. The muse is there, but it's being a complicated little bastard and not telling me straight out what to do. Reviews keep me going :D**


	8. A Garden all our Own

**Chapter 8: A Garden all our Own**

When she wakes it is twilight, and the truck is stopped, nestled within a crevice facing the road. She groans as pain courses through her body and carefully climbs from the truck. She looks around, foggy eyed and slightly panics. Where's Raul? And Jesse? Did the man kill them? Did the vampires eat them? Her mind races around these questions as she carefully walks, half crouched and in pain around the truck, only to find a campfire with two bodies lying on the ground.

"She wanted to stop and get him out of the truck. She wouldn't shut up until I did." His voice makes her jump and hold her chest.

"Holy shitting Christ don't fucking do that!" she pants arily and leans on the truck. He smirks under the brim of his hat, his teeth catching the firelight. She still can't place where she knows his voice from, and it's beginning to bother her.

"How is he?" she asks softly as the night grows darker.

"A broken leg, a few deep gashes that are healing now that the metal has been removed." His words bring her comfort and she slowly walks over to the small fire. The sounds of the night are odd, the low and high pitched grunts of vampires all around them. As she sits across from Raul on the other side of the fire the creatures move around her. She looks up at the sky, surprised to not find one star.

She thinks back to the time of her training. To enhance her senses Raul had locked her in a large underground cavern for a week and told her to find her way out in darkness so thick she could have worn it as a coat. She had to repeat this training over fifty times, each time she accomplished the original goal another was added, make it through without falling, make it through without getting hurt, make it through after finding two timers placed in the caverns setting out soft, barely noticeable pulses in the ground. Then he would add in opponents, first they went easy on her, then they didn't. Her final bout through the cavern she had successfully found the pulsing beacons and managed to defeat five opponents with sneak attacks in under five minutes.

Raul had trained her well. She smiles softly as she remembers he was the one who saved her from her hell. Her smile fades as the reason she was in a hell flashes through her mind. She absentmindedly plays with a strand of hair. She had vowed no one else would take her beautiful locks away from her again. A yawn escapes her lips and Judas slowly stretches out her aching body. Raul had done everything in his power to help her tap into the small amount of talent she had in her, being the sister of a Priest, there was no denying they share at least a small bit of talent.

Judas's heart jumps and she reaches for a knife in her boot that isn't there anymore, spins and crouches, facing the darkness. She sees the form of the vampire that had just brushed against her arm. It watches, making a clicking noise deep in its throat. A deep chuckle to her right makes her turn her head.

"They're rather curious creatures, instinct drives them, they are pure. They think like a pack of….what were they called? Wolves of the past I suppose." His voice is soft, almost tender. Judas sits back down and leans back on her elbows, watching Jesse and Raul together. Raul had told her that him and Jesse met after he was inducted leader of his faction. She had come from nothing, living under the boot of the church more so because her father was in well with the Monsignors. He said when they met it was like a fairy tale, love at first sight. She was the reason he knew where Judas was. She could never thank Jesse enough.

"Hey Judas, remember that story dad said mom used to tell us when we were little? You should tell Jesse." Raul's cracked tired voice draws her attention. She tilts her head and smiles sadly.

"Did you know that in the far reaches of sector one there is said to be land where you can actually grow plants on? A place that the vampire hasn't tainted with its touch, a place not reached by mans hate and greed. It's a garden of Eden. Us kids would play all night and sleep all day, just because we could. Mama and Papa would watch us as we learned how to take care of the plants, and take care of the animals of the past that live in the garden. We would be safe and happy." Her eyes drift back to the sky, thinking about her father. Raul smiles as he watches his sister drift off to her own mind.

"One day Judas, we'll have a garden all our own. Far away from all of this." He believes his own words and hoped she did as well. She smiles softly.

"I think you're right Raul." The night slowly grows darker and they decided to move on. She jumps into the driver's seat and they begin the last leg of their journey, all of them with thoughts of a Garden of Eden all their own. Judas is unaware of golden eyes drifting to her, watching her drive. His face is unreadable but his eyes study the girl that braved vampires and the Church to save people who she shares only one thing in common, the cause.

**I know it's been a looooong time. My personal life has fallen apart, dealing with my parents' divorce, working one job, moving in January. Blah blah blah. I hope you like this, this chapter is for you darling. **


	9. As the World Falls Apart

**Chapter 8: As the World Falls Apart**

Something was wrong. Very, very wrong. They had passed one of their trucks a few miles back, it was destroyed. They couldn't figure out by what.

"I'm telling you, vampires did this!" Raul had been harping on the same subject for three miles of sneaking through the wasteland and Judas was getting sick of it.

"Raul, there were no tracks! You know better than any of us what a vampire attack looks like, there was no evidence of vampires accept for behind us." Her voice comes out in an exasperated sigh. They left most of their supplies in the truck but her Jesse and Raul had grabbed their preferred weapons. She had two clawed whips and a small crescent shaped disk on her hip, Raul with his two swords, and Jesse with her twin guns, and all of them with an assortment of knives on their person.

"What else could it have been Judas?" she let his angry tone slide due to the fact that he was walking on his injured leg. Black Hat had decided to set it and wrap it in a make shift splint.

"Wasteland Bandits? The church?" she rolled her eyes and walked past him to walk slightly behind the god of vampires.

"God damn it Judas no one knows we're out here!" she lets out an aggravated sigh and was about to round on her brother when the man next to her did it first.

"I extended my hand to you to help. You took that chance, and now you should trust me. This was no vampire attack, to clean, and there were no bodies, no blood. When they hunt, vampires are anything but clean. They are sloppy, not meticulous. This was done by human hands brother. Years of training taught you better, apparently years of running around killing monsignors has dimmed your senses. Mostly the common one." Judas froze, eyes wide and waiting for her brother's reaction. He said it so calmly, so exact. She watches as Raul's ears slowly turn red and his eyes burn.

"Raul, don't. For the love of everything we have, don't," Jesse stepped in. Judas froze, and listened. Suddenly a knife flew by her face, and she countered, throwing her own, and unlike her assailant, she hit her mark. A man falls from the cliff above them, the knife in his shoulder. Judas smirks.

"Told you, bandits." She walks over to the man and makes sure he's dead. "The question is, how far through the pass they've gotten. This was probably only a scout, if they've taken the base, we stand no chance." She turns and looks at the other three with wide eyes.

"If they took the base….what do we do?" her heart beats heavy in her chest, and for the first time in a long time she feels like a lost little girl. There had been the hope that her father would be there waiting for them, and she hates that her voice cracks. Her brother's face softens and he shakes his head.

"Judas we won't know unless we try. We have to get through and find out." He looks to the ground and everyone knows what he's thinking. They'll die trying.

"Is there any way to tell your men apart from bandits? I know what the people of the church look like, men have short hair, women mostly wear braids. Is there anything setting your people apart from them?" his rough voice strikes a chord in her heart and she knows she knows that voice.

"Wasteland bandits have tattoos of the sectors they are from on the left side of their necks. They also all seem to wear the same nasty colongne and are almost always scruffy." Judas answers, rolling her eyes and looking at the man on the ground. "Like this one." She wrinkles her nose and shakes her head. Black hat smirks behind her under his hat.

"Bedded a few have you?" her cheeks turn red and she shakes her head, anger sparking in her eyes.

"I have yet to bed anyone….willingly." she bites back and stalks off on her own, leaving him with her brother and sister in law, with a slight frown on his face. Raul sighs and follows after his sister, passing Black Hat with Jesse behind him.

Judas looks at the sky, they had about an hour until sunset, and she turns, looking back at the rest of the group. "We have less then an hour till Sunset, we have half an army of vampires somewhere in these hills. Why don't we use them?" she looks to Raul who contemplates it.

"To risky, they'll kill our men too." He shakes his head.

"They follow my command. We wait here until sunset, let them get the scent of the men off of this one, they'll know who to kill." They all look at this man, the God of Vampires, and they seem to all agree that there is no other choice. So they sit, and they wait.

When night finally falls they move under cover of shadow. The vampires travel in a pack, somehow communicating silently where to go. They reach a ledge over-looking the base camp and find it swarming with bandits. They spot a pole in the middle of camp with five of their men tied to the base, where the bandits were beginning to start a fire.

Judas's eyes widen. "They're going to burn them alive!" her whisper is a harsh stunned, and out of nowhere she was gripped from behind, and her mouth covered, her eyes wide in panic as she tries to scream.

**I know it's been a while, I'm actually sitting in the hospital right now, just had my appendix removed 12 hours ago, and I have no muse to keep writing, so for now here's the next chapter. **


	10. I Know You

**Chapter 10: I Know You**

**Hey everyone, thank you so much for your well wishes, cookies, and hopes for my muse to return, random music helps a bunch. I'm feeling my muse slowly returning, I cranked this out in two days and I'm slightly happy with it.**

She turns wide eyed and glares at Black Hat. "If you want the upper hand, surprise is a better friend." He mutters in her ear, deep, quiet, and sending shivers down her spine. Her eyes turn to follow where his hand motions to the side, five vampires move silently through the darkness, avoiding the flames, they circle the camp and wait.

Everything happens faster then Judas can comprehend. She moves in the same second as the vampires, somehow sensing when the time was right. She vaults over the side of the cliff, using one of her whips to grip onto the roof of a building to swing down and into the fray. She puts every ounce of training pounded into her head into killing the bandits. The world blurs around her, she moves swiftly, not noticing the pain in her body from her previous ventures.

The smell of fire, sweat and blood permeate the air, and suddenly out of nowhere she is thrown to the ground by an incredible weight, and a screech echoes through her mind, temporarily rendering her deaf. Suddenly the vampire on top of her becomes dead weight and she's unable to breathe, sand enters her lungs and she's unable to move. Her eyes remain tightly shut, for fear of having dirt in her lungs and her eyes, and her mind slowly drifts, the sounds of battle far from her senses as her musings go to her life.

She thinks back to the day her father left, the day she was adopted. Her mind jumps to the day she was violated, when fear ruled her eyes move, to the priests sent to protect her until their mission in Sola Mira called them away. Then she remembers him. His face, his voice, his words. _Be your own salvation. _Suddenly a strength rushes through her body, a want, a need to live. She pulls strength from a far away memory of a man who set her on her path of vengeance and justice.

She pulls strength from the burning hate for the church, the way they turn their heads from that which they don't want to see, that which they refuse to believe. She pulls strength from all of the starving faces of children she's seen on her travels, the desolate towns living in fear of vampire and church. She slowly pushes herself up, managing to push the dead weight of the vampire off of her and she realizes the vampire is not the true enemy. The priests were trained to kill the wrong creatures. She slowly stands, watching the vampires tear through the bandits, they avoid her and her friends, her family and she knows somewhere in her being, they are just animals, like a dog that has yet to be tamed, working as nature intended and she remembers her dream.

A dream of a place, untouched by man, where she and her brother would live, where plants grow in plenty and animals live in comfort. She moves, unaware of her movement, only aware of her thoughts.

_It's Alberto, that snake, that has set me on my path. He violated me, tried to kill me, and by fate, not chance, my brother found me and trained me. He believed in me, even though I'm not gifted as a priest, I am gifted. _Her fire to live, to thrive, runs through her and grows stronger with every bandit she kills, her daggers becoming soaked in their blood, and as soon as it all began it was over. She looks around and is stunned, there behind the main building, a train sits, over run with vampires and blood.

"Judas! Thank the stars!" out of nowhere her brother hugs her tightly. She's drawn from her haze and hugs him back lightly.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Where did that train come from?" she feels almost foolish for asking and her brother stares at her, almost dumbfounded.

"It was their supply train, they were using the old tracks to move from base to base." At this her heart stops and Raul reads her mind.

"I know. How many other camps were hit? There should only be four on this track alone, but this ajoins to others, leading over all of the sectors. The vampires are clearing the train of any other bandits. This camp is ruined and we'll burn it. Marco and his group are alright, but Natia and her group, well that was their truck flipped over. They were the second to make it here, and were the first to be slaughtered." His bluntness surprises her, but his eyes are weary and he stands with his weight on his good leg. She nods and follows him as he limps to where the other five of Marco's group and the rest of hers are sitting.

She leans against a building, listening to the echoing screams of vampires, thinking about the creatures, their purpose and wondering what their move would be after they reached the town Raul grew up in. She doesn't hear him walk to stand next to her and his voice startles her out of her thoughts.

"For one who just killed over a dozen men, you're unsettlingly calm." She glances at the man with golden eyes shaded under the brim of his hat and shrugs.

"They deserved the punishment brought to them. They were going to burn my people alive. They took over our base, killed the children and women and men that resided here. The deaths brought to them were to kind." She doesn't look at him, fearing the judgment in his eyes.

He watches her for what seems like forever, and something pulls at her mind again. _Be your own salvation. _She suddenly turns and looks at him, the firelight hides his face, but his voice strikes a chord in her heart.

"You…it's you….you were…" he holds up his hand and shakes his head.

"There is a time and place for everything Salutem. I don't think your people are ready to hear the truth just yet." Her heart seems to beat out of her chest and he smirks. "You have done well for yourself, you've come a long way from the sniveling closet rebel I was forced to oversee." He then turns "Now come, we'll take this train to where you are going, and your brother has offered for me to use it personally for my help here." He walks towards the train, and she can't help but follow.

Her mind races around her head, it was him. She had believed he died, and would enevr return to her as more than a meer memory. Then it hits her. She just figured out who he was, and in a few hours he would be gone again. A sadness stronger then any before washes over her and she almost mindlessly steps onto the train, where her people were celebrating their lives with the drinks and sitting in the stock pile of riches the bandits have been loading onto the train.

"Drink with me to days gone by. Sing with me the songs we knew. Here´s to pretty girls who went to our heads. Here´s to witty girls who went to our beds" Raul sings softly with a sad smile on his face. Judas can't help but smile softly, she loved when they all sang together. Their voices brought her away from the carnage around her, away from her revelation.

"Here´s to them and here´s to you." Her voice is light, sad and she sits down in a red chair, accepting a bottle of wine. "At the shrine of friendship, never say die. Let the wine of friendship never run dry. Here´s to you and here´s to me." She glances up to see him standing in the doorway where the car they're all in leads into another car. "Here´s to you, and here´s to me" she meets his eyes for only a moment before the pounding of her heart made her look away.

"I've got the train ready to go, we'll take you to Damascus and that is where we part ways." His voice is soft, and un-readable. Raul nods and stands, shaking the man's hand firmly.

"We truly can't thank you enough, without your help, without the vampire, we would have died." Black hat nods and looks to Judas, making her heart suddenly stop. She's unable to read his eyes, but as Raul turns, she reads his silent lips. _You don't need me to be your salvation. You've become your own. _A sense of pride rushes through her at his words, he had just given her the best compliment he could have.

Through the night she barely sleeps, she dwells on his words, who he is, and how he had impacted her life. She had thought he was dead. She explores the train, blood and death are the only smells within the metal walls. She walks into a car that's relatively clean, and well furnished. She steps onto the carpet and walks to the middle of the dark room. Her eyes had adjusted hours ago to the deep heavy black of shadows around her, though her eyesight is still minimal. She walks to the table in the middle of the room and picks up the piece of paper there. She stares at it, unable to make out the words.

"It's a song from years gone by, the bandits have many antique stories and songs." His voice makes her jump from her skin and he chuckles.

"Didn't your brother train you to always be aware in the dark." His voice is almost teasing and she shakes her head.

"Of course he did, but you're not a vampire, nor man." She hadn't figured out how he was different, she just knew he was.

"Clever, though I am disappointed you haven't figured out what I am." Suddenly his hands are on her shoulders and his breath is hot on her neck.

"It's a love song, written by a maiden to her lover out at sea. The very ending was said to send pains of longing into the strongest of hearts." His voice vibrates through her very being, a deep warmth spreads through her from her shoulders to her toes.

"My heart is pierced by cupid, I disdain all glittering gold, there is nothing can console me but my jolly sailor bold." He read it slowly from over her shoulder and she fails to hold back the cold chill that races up her spine. He was right, the words he spoke made her realize she may never see him again. In that very moment she also realized how stupid she was to already be missing a man who she hardly knew, besides that he had saved her life with his vampires and his words.

"Judas! We're here!" Raul's voice echoes through the train, causing shrieks of complaining vampires to echo back. She hadn't realized the train had stopped until she was brushing by the man from her past, her present but not her future. She had almost made it to the door when a heavy weight grabs her hand and twirls her around.

"I never expected you to make it this far, I expected that monster to have broken you into nothing." His lips rest against her neck, which in turn made her face rest on his chest. She inhales sharply as he nuzzles her neck, he smells like dust, blood, death and something alluring, a light masculine smell around him.

"That was the thought that first awoke me from my pain, I looked into the face of my savior, the queen, and I saw you how I saw you when I left for Sola Mira. Broken and yet trying to remain so strong. The idea of bringing an end to the man who created such a strong spirit and broke it at the same time brought me mixed feelings. Your pain made you stronger and forced you to become what you are." Suddenly his fingers trail over her exposed side and over her scars, making her muscles tighten. "But this, this was the very definition of human nature. Crude, evil and malicious. The vampire is so much more pure, it's soul isn't tainted by wants and hate. They know three things, their queen, eating and resting." Somewhere in the middle of his small speech she had stopped to think.

"Your savior…..the queen….you're a vampire…" her voice is soft and in turn her chuckles.

"Judas, such an ugly name compared to your real one. Marigold however doesn't fit anymore. Salutem…that fits you perfectly. Salvation…my salvation…." His voice is soft and he steps away. "I will find you again when the time is right. Until then, take this, wear it and the vampire will know to aid you if they can." He pushes a silver band with a golden stone into her palm. It's far to big for her fingers, so she puts it in her pocket. He steps back and she turns to leave, drinking in everything he had told her, clutching the music in her hands as she walks out into the early morning sunlight of Dalmasca. Her thoughts instantly rush and her eyes scan every face for one she recognized.

Suddenly bright baby blue eyes meet another pair of baby blue eyes, both pairs wide blue eyes blink, unable to believe what they saw.

"P…p…papa!" training and composure forgot, tears begin to streak down her face and next to her father Raul looks to her and grins and nods. She pushes past people, Black Hat forgotten and she jumps into her father's open arms.

"My little girl! My Salutem! My baby!"


	11. Salus Mae

**I know it's been really long, the days have flown by in my life. My parents are getting a divorce, and since I'm stuck living in the house with them until I find a place that will let me keep my cat, my muse has run away. But I managed to crank this out just for you guys **

**Chapter 11: Salus Mae **

Days flew by in the company of her father and brother. The first night was spent laughing, drinking and catching up. She told her father what happened to her and the anger in his face wasn't something she had ever dreamed she would get the chance to see. The feeling that came with it was nearly unbearable, bringing tears to her eyes. He understood then why they had teamed up with vampires, and was completely in awe at how they survived their adventure.

They moved from town to town again, killing monsignors that deserve the taste of a blade. She worked her charms, she paid her dues. She was simply going through the motions.

A month later he was still on her mind. She had found him, the one person who, in her time of doubt, had caught her red handed questioning the church and said nothing to anyone. She wonders in those days if he had his own questions without answers, wondering how he had become what he was. Her life also returned to the normal routine of a rebel, though now her own training focused less on vampires and more on machines, in no way up to par with the church's own, but it was better than nothing.

On a cool dark night she sits perched on top of her bike in the middle of the wasteland, looking up at the stars, doing the questioning humans do when looking at the endless night sky. She has her hair pulled into a long tight braid with barbed wire laced through it and her whip rests around her waist. Through her deep thoughts of mostly him she hears a deep rumbling beginning from her feet and echoing around her. Suddenly the moon is gone and the only light she had was gone behind a stray cloud. It was unbelievably dark, her eyes unable to adjust and the rumbling grows closer and her instincts brought from training in the dark kick in. She climbs off her bike and pulls her whip from her waist, waiting. She feels the herd, they stop around her, she hears their breathing and odd screeches, and by the vibrations in the ground and the sounds of screeching she guesses the herd was 30 plus.

One steps forward that's much bigger than her, by the pulses in the ground, and she's alarmed by the fact that she isn't scared. She hears them breathing and communicating and her hand flies to the ring around her throat on a silver chain. She feels the heavy claws against the skin of her chest, going to the ring. The creature steps back and she feels the herd move, parting like a sea. The creature then pushes her back into her bike. She gets the hint and rolls her eyes.

"Okay okay, relax. Damn. I'm going." She mutters and climbs onto her bike. She kicks it on, and the light shows her the herd in front of her, much bigger then she had anticipated. She glances around for the opening, and she goes. She's not surprised when the herd follows, eventually leading her through the wasteland.

The wind whips against her skin, and pulls through her hair as she rides. Surrounded by vampire, she hears his voice. _My heart is pierced by cupid. I disdain all glittering gold. There's nothing can console me, but my jolly sailor bold. _His voice echoes through her mind. She had found many a song long forgotten in the village the train had left her at. She would sing softly and slightly off key when no one was around, feeling that it brought her troubled mind peace.

_Two weeks before. _

"_On my own, pretending he's beside me. All alone I walk with him till morning. Without him I feel his arms around me, and when I lose my way I close my eyes and he has found me." She walks through the town, away from the seedy club, blood on her hands with a book open between them, reading the song the Monsignor had wanted her to sing for him as part of their 'play time.' She scoffs slightly. A song of want, fully consuming obsession, he wanted to hear her sing these words to him to inflate his ego. She had promptly stabbed him in the heart, whispering softly "These words weren't meant for you."_

_Her leather pants cling to her hips and her coat blows in the soft wind. She decides to perch on her bike, putting off meeting her brother and the others just a little longer. "In the rain, the pavement shines like silver. All the lights are misty in the river. In the darkness, the trees are full of starlight, and all I see is him and me forever and ever." She had read the song a few times over, the words bringing bumps to her arms and a shiver down her spine._

"_And I know it's only in my mind. That I'm talking to myself and not to him. And although I know that he is blind, still I say there's a way for us. I love him, but when the night is over. He is gone, the river's jusst a river. Without him, the world around me changes, the trees are bare and everywhere the streets are full of strangers. I love him, but every day I'm learning, all my life I've only been pretending. Without me, his world will go on turning. A world that's full of happiness that I have never known. I love him, but only on my own." She finishes softly, a single tear falling from her eye as she rips the page from the book and folds it, putting it into her bag on her bike. The song haunts her, reminding her of her own troubling mind._

_It scares her how she longed to see him again, to have him close to her again. She knew not a thing about him, she didn't even know his name, and yet she thought of him more often then she thought about her brother. She clinches her teeth and shakes her head. She goes to turn on her bike when out of nowhere she's thrown off of it and into a building with a clicking writhing body on top of her. She stares, wide eyed into the face of the vampire, and before it opens it's giant jaws she yells._

"_Wait! Wait!" it pauses, and tilts its head. "H…..he gave me this." Her heart pounds in her chest, hoping the ring would save her, if not she was defenseless. She pulls the chain from under her coat, and shows the creature the ring. It seems to glow in the darkness and the creature backs off, and runs away._

That had been the only time she had seen the vampire anywhere near a town since then. Now suddenly a whole pack had found her, and were leading her somewhere. Through the darkness she spots a light glimmer. Then it hits her, smoke and a heavy metallic smell of vampire blood. Her eyes widen and she speeds up, leaving the pack behind her.

She stops near the wreckage and the large vampire walks to her, then to her right. She follows, and it looks between her and a giant piece of metal. She understands and she tries to lift it, but it's to heavy. It's when she hears a deep groan that she begins to panic.

"Help me! I can't move it on my own!" she growls at the creatures. She feels the ring grown hot against her chest, and five of the creatures come and easily lift the metal. In the dirt he lays, bloody and bruised.

"Jesus Christ" she swears and falls to her knees, checking his pulse and breathing.

"He…doesn't….exist…." she smiles softly at his broken voice.

"Glad you're at least alive. Come on, we need to get you out of here." She slings his arm over her shoulder and, with trouble, hoists him up. "Holy hell you're fucking heavy" she curses with labored breath. He chuckles softly and buries his face in her neck as she pulls him over to her bike. She leans him against it, and he's able to barely hold himself up.

"You're a hot mess, you need rest and to get cleaned up." She states. He nods slightly, and stradles the bike, before reaching into his pocket. He goes to hand her something, but the exertion of moving was to much. He leans forward and rests his head on the bike, his arms going limp and a piece of paper falling to the ground. She bends down and picks it up, pulling out a flash light to read it. Her eyes widen at what she sees. A map, all across the sectors and beyond the giant walls at sector one. She looks between him and the paper and her eyes water.

There was no way, no possible way this was real. She pushes the thoughts aside and gets onto her bike behind him, carefully turning and going back to the camp, a dream in her pocket and a dream on her bike. She hears something over the roaring of the wind, something that sounds like 'Salus Mae. You deserve happiness.'


	12. What's in a Name?

**So this is the end….at least for now. I may do an alternate ending just to satisfy my muse, but this is the official ending to Judas. It wasn't my best story, but It's my second fully completed story and I cherish it so. It took a while, but I've made it. Thank you to everyone who has and who will review, to all of the faithful followers who've stuck with me this long. Keep an eye out for the alternate ending, I'll probably post it as a one-shot. P.S. BH may be a bit OC, but this is my story. Deal with it. Thank you.**

**Chapter 12: What's in a Name**

She brought him back to camp to find her brother and father freaking out over her. She was all smiles and tears as the two took Black Hat and brought him inside their small hotel room. She follows and spends four days at his bedside. She placed his hat and coat on a rack, and changed the bandages around his chest. He had suffered broken ribs, cuts, gashes, bruises and blood loss. In just four days his body was completely healed.

She sits curled up in the chair beside him, reading more songs from the past, not truly finding anything that stuck out. She's brought from her world of fantasy by the feeling of being watched. She glances up and blue eyes meet gold and her heart skips a beat. She tries to force the blood rushing to her face right back down to wherever it came from, but a knowing look passes through his eyes.

"You're awake. You've been out for four days, we were getting worried that you wouldn't wake up." What she didn't say was that she was the only one that was worried.

"You've been here this whole time." It isn't a question and she nods. "I stopped changing your bandages when your cuts healed. It's amazing really how fast you heal." He smirks at her and she blushes again, hating herself for it.

"Salutem….the train was crashed. By my brother and sister. My goal is un-accomplished." His anger leaks into his voice, and she's wary of asking him what his goal was.

"You know my name….all of them really, but I don't know yours." The words slip from her mouth, making him chuckle.

"What's in a name?" he smiles coyly at her and she smiles back.

"Well I am getting tired of referring to you by the color of your hat." She glances at it, the edges are fringed and burnt, covered in blood. He chuckles and sits up, the blanket falling to his lap allowing her a lovely view of his upper body.

"Yes…..but what's in a name?" he smirks and stands slowly, pulling a black shirt over his chest. "Does my name have to define me? Why do I need a label?" her eyes thin into a small glare and she crosses her arms over her chest.

"Maybe I want to know the name of the man I'm thanking for this." She holds the map out and his smirk dissipates.

"How did you get that?" he asks, his eyes questioning and narrowed.

"You went to hand it to me before you passed out…..is it true? Does it really exist?" the hope shining in her eyes was enough to make him look away.

"I don't know, It may or it may not. There's only one way to find out." He chanced a glance at her and the smile on her face sent a warmth through his cold body. Her smile slowly fades at the confused look in his eyes and she tilts her head.

"What?" she asks softly, afraid of the answer.

"How can you be so happy for something you don't know exists?" he asks softly, confused at how she could still react that way after everything she had been through.

Her smile slowly returns with a sad tilt to the corners of her mouth. "My brother asked me how I had any tears left to cry when he found me. He asked five months later how I could still smile after all the wrong had been done. I told him I'm human. Human's cry, human's hurt, but we get over it and move on. He smiled and told me-" she was cut off by a voice behind her.

"It takes the strongest of people to survive what you have been through. It's not that you're human, it's that you have the will to live." His words echo through her being and something pulls in her mind.

"So are we really going to do this? Go find our garden of Eden?" Raul crosses his arms over his chest. She smiles hopefully and looks back to Black Hat.

"I couldn't say no. Just the idea of having a place untouched by man, untouched by the church is enough to occupy my mind. The church will wait while the vampire build their numbers back up. They took a devastating blow in the train wreck." He looks down, feeling slightly out of sorts over losing so many pure lives. He had a new calling now, and he couldn't understand why, but it was Salutem calling him and he couldn't help but answer that call.

+++Black Hat's POV+++

Three days have passed since leaving the base camp. I watched as Salutem and Raul collected all and who they needed, we boarded the trucks and we were off. The trucks have made unbelievable time, starting in sector ten, going to sector one, we've already made it to sector 5. To my surprise they didn't mind stopping at reservations in every sector long enough for me to collect information on how many vampire were there.

For three days I couldn't help but watch Salutem. The hope in her eyes growing day by day. A tightness has formed in my chest that won't dissipate, I can only guess that it's from not knowing whether or not the place exists. When she drives and I rest my eyes in the truck I see her face in both scenarios, I see the heart broken tears trying to escape her eyes, but she won't let them fall. The worst part of these visions is when she looks at me, and forces a sad smile on her lips, the tears finally falling from her stunningly bright blue eyes. These visions are enough to make my unbeating heart clench. I didn't understand it when I first saw her. Before my revelation, I met her when she was just a girl, dreaming of a world beyond her sheltered life, questioning the same things I was beginning to question. It was then that I formed a connection with her, I knew then that it would not be the last time I saw Marigold. She was trying so hard not to break after what happened with that swine. I would check on her in the night to make sure she hadn't come to the conclusion that it was easier to end her life. News of her disappearance and the fire reached my ears three days after it happened through a traveling merchant that did nothing more the wheel, deal and kiss my boots. He was vermin, but to know she had survived made my heart clench for the first time since my change. I was caught completely off guard that night when the Church brought out their machines. That was the last place I expected to see her, and yet there she was, scantly clad with her firece blue eyes. My first and only thought had been about how stunning she was.

Through the trip to the base camp I had questioned myself. Wondering why I was feeling something I hadn't felt since I was a boy training to be a priest. I couldn't keep my eyes off of her, and the vampires needed no command to protect her. They too were drawn to the blue eyed hellion breaking down the pillars of the church slowly. They needed no command to save her when the machine grabbed her. They acted on their own that night, another puzzle for me to solve.

I asked myself through those nights how she had gotten under my skin without so much as trying. She wasn't vain by any means, she gave two tails to the wind about her appearance, almost always having dirt on her face and tangles in her hair, maybe that was it. She didn't have to try to be beautiful, it came naturally. The day I left her with her family, I wanted so badly for her to come with me, to meet the queen and partake in my mission. It was only when I saw how happy she was to see her father that I decided against that. I couldn't bring myself to ask her to leave him and her brother.

After my brother chose to appose me and the train blew to pieces the only thing on my mind was her, and the map I had found on that very train in my pocket. So I sent the vampire out to find her, and she found me and the map. I try to understand the pull to her, but I can't.

When we pass the border to sector one, she can't contain her excitement as she drives and I can't contain the impending dread of the unknown. It has been a week and in those days I couldn't stop thinking about the what if we find nothing. What if it's all a lie, what if she hates me. In these days I realize what that pull is, the reason my eyes follow her everywhere she goes, the reason I subtly protest anyone else riding with her but me. The vampire helped me understand one night as I watch them on the reservation. They were all stragglers accept for two, that came to the reservation together. It was such a simple idea that I would have never thought anything of it. Now I look at her, the moonlight glinting in her eyes and I know, she was meant to be mine. I was meant to find her. Suddenly her eyes droop and she swerves, I grab the wheel of the truck and yank us back onto the road and stop the truck. The others stop around us and I pull her from the truck, my heart pounding in my chest, my eyes wide with worry.

"Salutem, are you ok?" I ask softly, to no answer. I feel my heart sink as I feel her neck. Her pulse is barly there. I had watched her in all these days and barly noticed anything wrong. She would grimace every now and again, grab her ribs or her head momentarily then be fine. I should have known there was something more. I cradle her softly and whisper my name, my real name in her ear. I can only hope she herd me.

+++++++++++Judas+++++++++++++++

The world is bleary around her as her eyes try to focus. There's a loud steady beeping coming from beside her, no other sounds are in the room. She groans and stares at the blank white tiled ceiling. She looks around the room, a plain medical room, one bed, no flowers. Of course she knew that and didn't expect different. Flowers didn't exist. She groans and slowly sits up, the place unfamiliar and strange. Suddenly a woman walks in in a white uniform. She stops wide eyed and stares at Salutem, confusion and relief coming into her eyes.

"Doctor! Someone get Doctor Malkira!" suddenly he was in the doorway, looking relieved with a kind smile on his face. The name rang deep in her mind, bringing up the pictures of vampire, a black hat, and his golden eyes, but now his eyes were brown. She stares in confusion and tilts her head.

"Malkira? That's your name?" her voice is hoarse and unused and this only serves to further her confusion.

"Yes Marigold it is. How are you feeling?" he holds a chart in front of him, waiting for her answer. The confusion is plain on her face as she answers "Tired, weak, in pain. What….what happened? Where are Raul and my dad?" she looks up at him hopeful and he shakes his head.

"Marigold, your family died in the fire…don't you remember?" as a matter of fact she didn't. She was the only one in the church when it burnt. "Dear, you've been in a coma for a little over a year, we had almost given up hope you would ever wake." His voice is like velvet to her ears as her world comes crashing down on her. There was no way, it was all so real. The pain, the tears, the hope, the happiness. She shakes her head, knowing she had to leave, and goes to stand, only to have the doctor stop her.

"Marigold, you can't get up. You're legs….they were broken before the house was set on fire.." he seems almost apologetic as she looks down at her legs, and touches them lightly, not feeling anything. Tears gather in her eyes. "I…..I'm paralyzed?" they fall without her permission and he sits on the edge of the bed, holding her hand softly.

"Yes…that's why you were in a coma. The realization was to much for your mind to take, it collapsed on itself and tried to rebuild itself. Your brain activity for the year was phenominal, but we were afraid you'd stay in your mind forever. This is perfect progress." He smiles reassuringly and it hits her hard.

It was all just a dream. Everything. Her feelings, her pain, her family, all of it a dream. None of it had happened. His words slowly drone out of her mind as she remembers everything. The birthday party, the fire, her family's screams. Then there was him, the doctor. He had been a first responder, at a party down the road himself for his nephew. He had braved the flames to save her.

"I want to go outside." She says stiffly. Malkira is taken aback but nods and orders for a wheelchair and takes her outside his self. They go out the back and into the darkness with the moon shining on the hospital garden. Suddenly tears spring to her eyes as she pictures her made up fantasy all around her. Raul, her father, and him. 'We found it.' The tears pour from her eyes and sobs wrack her body. The doctor puts a re-assuring hand on her shoulder. Soon she is quiet and he goes to bring her inside. As they go through the doors she could swear she hears the call of the vampire, and his deep chuckle coming from the darkness.


End file.
